A Malaysian state declared it would not carry out a caning sentence on a model found guilty of drinking beer until after the holy month of Ramadan.
The muslim model sentenced to be caned for drinking beer won a surprise reprieve when religious officials delayed her punishment until after the fasting month of Ramadan.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was sentenced by a religious court last month to six strokes, making her the first woman to face caning under Islamic law in Malaysia, a moderate Muslim-majority country.
Kartika, a Malaysian married to a Singaporean, was caught drinking by religious authorities at a hotel in Kuantan on Dec 11, 2007.
She said she had three glasses of beer before the hotel was raided. She and the other patrons were asked to provide urine samples.
The 20-month ordeal had added to her distress, she said, adding that she respected the law banning alcohol for Muslims and was determined to go through with the punishment – six strokes of the cane.
She will be fully clothed and kneeling, and struck on the backside with a small thin cane using moderate force.
Four court appearances over the offence forced her to quit her full-time hospital job and she has since had to rely on part-time modelling jobs.
“I only declared that I was a model to protect my full-time job ... I felt very humiliated because people used my status as a part-time model to publicise my case,” she said.
In 2007 she was arrested in Cherating in Pahang, Malaysia, for drinking Tiger beer in a hotel bar, and in 2009 she was sentenced by a religious court to six strokes of the cane and a fine. Only Muslims are subject to the religious court system, which has nothing to do with the ordinary criminal courts in Malaysia.
Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno
Shukarno Mutalib, 60, (right), the father of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, meeting with Halim Ahmad, the chief assistant director of Jaip (Akidah branch), at his home in Kampung Jawang Utara in Sungai Siput.
Family time: Kartika spending quality time with her son Muhammad Azfar, seven, and daughter Wann Kaitlynn Sari Dewi, five, at her father’s house in Sungai Siput, Perak, yesterday.
Kartika response to her postponement.
"I am speechless," Kartika told reporters, adding that the Islamic officials had not told her whether she would be caned later. "I want to know what my status is. I want a black and white statement from them."
The mother-of-two has stared down religious authorities by saying she is ready to be caned, refusing to appeal against her sentence, and challenging them to cane her in public.
"I do not know in what situation I'm in. I'm clueless. I do not know if I am freed, I am in limbo," said the part-time model, who was dressed in a purple Muslim headscarf and a flowing traditional "baju kurung" outfit.
Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator from Pahang in charge of religious affairs, said the punishment had been suspended on the order of the Attorney-General until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week.
Kartika Father response to the postponementKartika's father Shukarno Mutalib, 60, reacted angrily to the about-face and the confusion over whether the caning would go ahead, and said it would reflect badly on Islam, which forbids drinking alcohol.
"My daughter wants the sentence to be done. I'm afraid that people will mock the religion," he said. "Don't make my daughter a toy to play with," he said.
Kartika, who has lived in neighbouring Singapore for many years, had pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub.
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A Muslim model on Sunday said she was ready to face a caning penalty next week for breaching Malaysia's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.
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A Malaysian woman is due to become the first woman to be caned under the country's Islamic laws after being caught drinking beer in a hotel.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno's says she accepts her punishment, but critics say drinking should be viewed as a personal sin, not a state crime.
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